


Conversations at Court

by BloodEmCee



Category: Bloodborne (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Abuse of Authority, Blood Drinking, Noble family, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Vampires, Vampirism, political machinations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-16 03:37:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20183113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodEmCee/pseuds/BloodEmCee
Summary: Lady Maria and her Mother have a chat.





	Conversations at Court

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a Bloodborne AU in which Maria is the direct descendant of Annalise. 
> 
> Also, vampires.

In many other places, the change of seasons was heralded by color licking to life among dead leaves and the slowly-awakening calls of hibernating beasts. In Yharnam, the only beasts that woke were man at their core. No trees came alive with sweet breezes. Instead, the deadwood of Cainhurst, of Yharnam, seemed to creak and growl with disdain for springtime hopes.

Maria plucked quietly at the frills around her neck, nimble fingers tracing over stray threads before removing them entirely. She was content only because she knew nothing else. Gehrman told her of places with swaying flowerblooms and fruit-heavy trees, but these all seemed false to Maria. 

A maid of the estate gave Maria a quiet glance. Maria turned her face away. Annalise once had told her that she was easier to read than a child’s picturebook; the nervous tugs at her clothes, the shifting from foot to foot--Maria was a tell-all without even intending to be. The memory of that particular embarrassment seared Maria’s pale cheeks red. No. This would not do. She could not always be so...cowardly. 

Maria’s keen ears picked up the swishing of Annalise’s dresstrain before the Queen approached. To Maria’s credit, she did not squirm. She stood solid and went so far as to dig her boots into the lushly carpeted floor below her. The Estate had a tendency of rearranging itself, often at the whim of its Queen, so Maria prepared for Annalise’s approach to come from elsewhere. Behind her, Maria figured, was most likely of all. 

And so it was: Annalise’s voice from behind her, honey-rich, content like a spider which had sucked the life from a wayward worm. 

“I see my daughter has decided to honor me with her presence today,” Annalise sneered, her chin lifting. Maria turned to face her full-on, but did not move until after Annalise finished speaking. 

“Have you grown tired of cavorting with lowborn men?”

This jab twitched the skin along Maria’s nape, but Maria did not allow her frustration to cross her features. Instead, she cleared her throat.

“I would never do such a thing, Mother. You know this.”

“Do I? I can never be sure with you. It’s always the quiet ones, after all. So pure, until they get the first chance to throw that purity to the wind.”

Annalise’s dress did not move as she slid across the floor towards Maria. The heir did not move. She knew this was another test. Everything Annalise did was a test for her. She claimed, time and again, that these tests were for Maria’s own good, but Maria knew better. 

A sharp hiss of breath left Maria, however, as Annalise drifted too close, and smiled with sharp white teeth. 

“...I would never, Mother,” Maria said. Her voice did not shake. 

“And why is that?”

“Because I am more than some common whore, despite the projections of the family.” 

There. Maria watched while a livid undercurrent crept across Annalise’s face. Maria cursed herself internally, but did not let her expression waver. This was dangerous ground. To misspeak would be to be punished, and Annalise enjoyed creativity in her punishments; the last time Maria really rose Annalise’s ire, she had not been permitted to leave her room for some time, and the window had been sealed shut by Annalise’s power over the estate itself. Maria recalled how quickly she had lost track of time. 

Her jaw tensed. Her fingertips itched, much as they had when she’d begun to rend the paper off her room’s walls. 

“What did you just say?”

Annalise hissed it, her pupils contracting. Maria took a deep breath. 

“I said that I intend to keep my purity until marriage, despite what others think of me.”

Her rewording would have to be good enough. 

Annalise’s soft hand cupped her chin, and an arm more powerful than anyone could guess lifted Maria’s head up, exposing the curvature of her neck. One finger trailed down Maria’s jugular, pushed at the triangular indent at the base of her neck. 

“I see. Maria, do be careful. You speak so ignorantly, sometimes, and you know how temper takes me.” 

“...yes, Mother. I apologize.” 

“Good. Now, go fetch me something to eat. One of the new stock should do. Unless, of course,” she said with a hand holding Maria’s neck arched out, “you have an alternative solution.”

Maria knew this was a punishment. She could tell by the way Annalise’s eyes searched her own. Maria despised bringing servants for Annalise to feast on, yet the only alternative that would be accepted was her own blood, which she despised as well. 

“I have better to offer you than they do, Mother.” 

Teeth scraped her throat; twin pinpricks, accompanied by a tightened jaw. Annalise’s grip tightened enough to make Maria bleed. It always did.


End file.
